The Smithsonian Grapples With a Modern Conundrum: How to Engage New Audiences

As ethnic demographics change in the United States, museums struggle to engage.
The Smithsonian Grapples With a Modern Conundrum: How to Engage New Audiences
Greater Nicoya female figure AD 800–1350. Pottery, clay slip, paint. National Museum of the American Indian
Christine Lin
Updated:

NEW YORK—The National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian Institution, has launched its first major bilingual exhibit in New York, one that will test the institution’s will to engage with wider audiences.

An ambitious project, Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past Revealed contains over 130 exquisite ceramics and other artifacts that illustrate life, power, and ritual in the indigenous societies of what today are Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Every bit of wall has text in both English and Spanish in a bid to increase engagement with Spanish-speaking audiences.
Christine Lin
Christine Lin
Author
Christine Lin is an arts reporter for the Epoch Times. She can be found lurking in museum galleries and poking around in artists' studios when not at her desk writing.
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